Death Valley National Park

With a name like Death Valley National Park, one might picture dead things and vast spaces of nothing with no beauty to be found.  This is what I thought before my trip to the park.  I am here to tell you that I was very wrong.  While there are definitely views of vast amounts of nothing on the surface, it is when you really look and stop to admire the spaces that you will see beauty.

Before I get to all of that though let me tell you about the adventure before the adventure.  The drive from my aunt and uncles home in Sonora, CA to Beatty, NV where we stayed the night before visiting the park was one of the most adventurous drives I have ever experienced.  First we ended up trying to go through Sonora Pass which was closed due to snow but we were unaware of that until about 40 miles into the trip when we go to the orange cones blocking the road. So after turning around and driving back to Sonora we realized we had a lot longer day ahead of us.  We would have to drive all the way around Yosemite National Park, Sierra National Forest, Sequoia National Park and the Sequoia National Forest to just get headed toward the park.  So after miles of interstate and heat, the fun really began.  It was of course dark when we hit the open spaces of the unknown.  Where you drive for miles and only see more of the same weeds and desert.  I have to say I have never been more scared while driving and I live in Maine where we drive in blizzards.  I would take whiteout conditions any day over wind and sand pummeling the van and making it impossible to see.  At one point we topped a hill and I couldn’t tell where the road was due to so much sand on the road and it blowing across the road in what felt like a tornado or hurricane. Not long after that little scare I came around a corner to see 10 or so donkeys right in the road.  I have to say that is a first for me.  I had never even seen the look for donkeys sign until this trip.  I have seen cows, horses and all sorts of wild animals but never this.

Another moment that made us both feel uneasy was driving through a mining town of which I fail to remember the name.  It was like being in a Stephen King novel where the unsuspecting tourists get lost and wander into a mining town looking for help. Hey maybe that’s a new book idea haha!  It was still in operation and there was still clearly people living there but it had this look of being rundown and partially abandoned.  It probably would be completely different in the daylight though.

In order to get to our hotel we had to drive through the park to the other side into Beatty Nevada.  Our hotel was very unique.  It was completely themed in aliens rom the outside to the rooms.  I was never so happy to see an alien after that drive haha. Beatty is an interesting little town that really plays up the alien and western theme.  I wish we had more time to explore there and go into some of the old west businesses but our schedule just didn’t allow for it.

We headed into Death Valley National Park the next day and it didn’t disappoint.  This was another example of very rugged beauty.  It was also very accessible which I definitely would not have thought. We stuck to Furnace Creek Area as it seemed to have the most accessible and easily accessed features. The road that goes through the valley is very strategically placed to allow access to some pretty spectacular and otherworldly terrain.  It was as if we were on another planet the entire time.  We were able to see a number of interesting places like Devils Golf Course, Artist’s Drive and Badwater Basin,

Devils Golf Course is an example of a large salt pan made up of large halite salt crystal formations.  I guess you could compare it to being on volcanic rock. It is very sharp and unforgiving hence the name.  The vast open space of it really gives the sense of being on another planet.

Artists Drive was an unexpected gem of a find.  When you think of death you don’t think of natural beauty.  This drive was definitely naturally occurring art right in the mountains.  That is another thing I didn’t expect was eleven thousand foot mountains.  I had pictured the park as just flat desert.  It certainly was not flat.  So back to Artist’s Drive, the colors in the mountains almost seemed like they couldn’t possibly occur naturally  It was truly breathtaking.  It was something new and even more beautiful around every corner.  Artist’s Palette is definitely worth driving the loop just to see this one spot.  It really is a palette of the most amazing colors you have ever seen.

Our final stop before heading onto the next adventure was Badwater Basin.  This is the lowest point in the United States at 282 feet below sea level. There isn’t a ton to see other than to say you have been to the lowest point in the U.S.,  There is an interesting sign up on the mountains that shows you where sea level really is which is kinda interesting to think about.  If it was near the sea you would potentially be under 282 ft of water.

I would say we hit this park at the right time of year as it was warm but not hot and not a lot of people.  I would definitely recommend seeing it for yourself because I can’t do it justice in pictures and words.